The Last Good Bye
by mmuzey
Summary: The Steam Powered Giraffe come into an unforgettable mishap as they must save the daughter of the employer of there recent show. A certain Automaton will come and return and The Spine, Rabbit and Hatchworth must solve the case. Will they make it back in time and save the woman in question?


Sweat dripped from Smith and Reed's faces as the final song of was about to begin. Empty water bottles lay at their feet and the rays of the stage light beamed with extreme intensity. Wiping the sweat from their brows, they both looked at each other and grinned. Matt Smith's drum set had seen better days. The water from their bottles and sweat had dripped onto the drums and symbols covering most of the hitting surface. Michael Reeds keyboard and Banjo had seen the wrath of his sweat as it was drenched in the salty liquid. In fact, much of the instruments were feeling the humidity of the place. The automatons had to take in more water than usual to keep up for they had begun to condensate as well. There boilers were using more water than usual due to the heat and humidity. The convention center had lost most there air conditioning half way through the show for no apparent reason. Bodies were drenched but cares were none.

The Spine, Rabbit and Hatchworth looked at each other and nodded as there last song began. A quick swig of his water and steam escaped Spine's mouth as it cooled his throat. The three stood in front of the stage, Rabbit in the middle, while Reed was to the far right back with his keyboard and banjo and Smith was to the far left back with his drum set. The song Automatonic Electronic Harmonics was to end the event. There was no more water to spare for everyone on stage and they needed to end the concert, though they knew that an encore would be called for. The crowd roared as the harmonies rang through ears and spread through their bodies. Spine looked to Steve, their sound engineer, to make sure all was good still. Steve caught Spines eyes and look of concern. Wiping away sweat with a washcloth, Steve gave a thumb up with a simple nod. Spine gave a quick nod in response. The concert had gone quite smoothly with no problems, a rarity for the band. Steve took pride in his work and leaned back in his spinning chair. At least there was that to make it through the night.

Matt spun his drumstick between his fingers and began his drum solo. Pitters and Patters echoed as girls squealed with excitement. Water would rise from the symbols and spray all over to the floor. The automatons stayed perfectly still in stand by mode and Michael gleamed at Matt with a smile on his face. He had been practicing for some time and was proud of his bandmates accomplishment. The drumsticks began to slip from Matt's hands but decided to slam the stick onto the metal rim and let go causing it to spin in the air. He caught it with ease and re-gripped. The solo was soon ending. Soft pitters began to rise in volume and power and Rabbit was ready to finish this off. With a quick count down and a sudden halt, Rabbit began the final piece of the song. Jazzy tones left his lips as his tone was rich and somewhat deep with excitement and influence. He tightened his megaphone and sang with authority.

"_Colonel Walter was shocked when he learned from the Nile__  
__ Copper African elephants turning hostile__  
__ So he built these wonderful automaton blokes__  
__ And a very big steam powered giraffe that smokes"_

The crowd sang along as the last line repeated with higher power and energy than prior before. The last note held and the crowd roared with eyes closed. The last note strung and the song ended with Rabbits maniacal laugh as it echoed throughout the room. Flat but childlike, the laugh carried and gave many of the fans goose bumps. The applause rang all throughout as men and women cheered for one last song. Hatchworth, The Spine and Rabbit all temporarily went into standby mode as they all leaned over. Everyone ate it all up. The only sound that could be heard was the audience screaming in an operatic tone. The bots came back to ready and proceeded to nod at each other.

"Thank you everyone!" Spine exclaimed.

A flash of bright light and a bang rang from behind the trio. The Spine spun turned quickly with his feet planted onto the ground and held on tightly to his guitar. Hatchworth flung his hands up and jerked, closing his eyes and letting his bass hang around his neck. Rabbit was slow to turn, but his shoulders still jolted and held tightly to his megaphone. A quick gasp and screams erupted from the audience. Many of them attempted to leave their seats in mid-panic. Smoke was rising from some cords between Smith and Reed as well as sparks and minor flames began to erupt. The Spine looked at the audience. Their eyes were wide and many were running. He tried to yell to Steve but his microphone was cut off. He beamed in Rabbit's direction and made his quick but heavy steps to him grabbing the megaphone with his free hand as his other still held on to his acoustic. Rabbit did nothing in response.

The Spine took the megaphone and made direct eye contact with Steve. The Spine's eyes glowed green as if to focus his being into one direction. His grip might have been too tight as his guitar slightly cracked but no notice came from The Spine. With his voice was rough and angered he let go of his guitar.

"Curtain close, now!" Spine exclaimed through the megaphone as he pointed right at Steve. Steve fumbled with the controls and found the switch. He flipped it and looked up at The Spine to see him stiff. Letting go of his acoustic, The Spine raised his finger and beckoned him on stage. No expression was spared on his face, just his glowing green eyes beaming as the lights went out and the curtain close passed his face. Steve froze. Thinking back on his checks, he didn't remember anything that could have caused such a reaction. He flipped all switches off. The room had emergency lights but that was the only light aside from partially seeing two green lights through the curtains. Either they were super bright or the curtain was super thin. Turning to his right he made his way down some steps and ran passed the people leaving the room. His heart was pounding harder than his breath could muster.

The Spine turned around to see a small fire the size of a small trash can began to emerge. The Spine tossed the megaphone into the air without looking and grabbed the funnel of the megaphone, pointing the handle back at Rabbit. Rabbit hadn't moved sense he turned and barely realized the device had been removed from his hands in the first place. Moving just his head, The Spine looked at Rabbit. His eyes were still green.

"Rabbit!" Monotone in anger, he called to his brother. Rabbit shot a quick look at his automatonic sibling. Staggering and having a hard time moving, he gripped the handle of the megaphone and kept staring at The Spine. The Spine pointed at both Reed and Smith, one with each hand and extended his hand out to the sides of the stage. They both took the hint and left the gear and ran off stage. Expressionless, The Spine stepped his way to the flames and made a quick turn to the back stage. Steve stopped suddenly as he almost ran into him backstage. They both turned frantically, looking for the fire extinguisher. Steve caught eye of it first. He ran to the wooden table against the wall. Lifting it with what he could he headed for the stage. The Spine took hold of the extinguisher from Steve as his neon green eyes pierced through his eyes. Steve had seen those eyes before. Still staggering for coherent thought, Steve stared back into the green void.

"I turned off all the power to those cords so you should be fine!" He shouted at Spine. Glaring still, he turned to the fire and proceeded to put it out. Hatchworth relaxed but still held attention to the smoke coming from the fire. He scittered to The Spine's side. His glances back and forth from The Spine and the flame kept him in confusion. The idea of it all was difficult to process and he was not sure how to approach the situation. Rabbit relaxed as well as he saw The Spine kept his eyes attached to the flames. It was slowly going out. He remembered to keep the pipe close to the base of the fire and the smoke got thicker. Smith and Reed peeked around the corner of the back of the stage and watched The Spine do his work. Reed leaned on top of Smith to keep his balance as Smith willingly let him lay upon him. Steve stood next to them in the open questioning their actions. Steve looked at the two of them with his hands folded. Shifting his weight to left leg he looked at them with childlike confusion.

"Really guys?" He questioned them. The both of them looked quickly back at Steve and then to each other. Giving a shrug they turned back to the stage waiting till all was clear. Steve simply shook his head with minor disgust. The Spine caught them in his peripheral view and kept to his duty. The fire was dead. His eyes slowly dimmed to their normal design. The Spine turned towards Steve, Smith and Reed just as his eyes stopped glowing. The smoke was thick and the fire was far enough away from the backdrop on stage that it took no damage from the flames. No one was hurt. People were scared but no one was in danger anymore. The Spine took his hat and waved away the smoke. Rabbit walked up behind The Spine and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"W-w-w-w-what was that all about?" Rabbit asked. The Spine turned and looked at Rabbit. His eyes were no longer of anger but of concern.

"I wish I knew, Rabbit." Spine replied. Hatchworth walked closer to the damage and tried to look through the smoke. Steve slowly made his way on stage to look at the damage. He coughed as the smoke affected his lungs.

"Steve, don't try to breathe it in if it's too much." The Spine didn't turn around but he did rotate his head to catch him again in his peripheral view. His voice was much softer now. Steve ignored him and knelt down to check out the wire damage. Eyes widened and mouth gaped opened, Steve wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Spine. This… " The Spine turned around fully to get a view.

"What is it? Spit it out." Spine shifted his weight back and forth, as he does, and waited for his response. He took his guitar off his shoulders and caught a glance at the crack that was on the neck of the guitar. The Spine went to speak but cut himself off.

"Guess you don't know your own strength, The Spine." Hatchworth finally said. The Spine looked at him and then back at his guitar. He shook his head not caring at the moment and walked up to Steve. His heavy steps shook some of the stage and could hear it echo throughout. Steve stood and turned to The Spine.

"This… This isn't just a simple electric fire." Steve began. "This something else."

Steve held up a small tube like device with a metal hook on the end. The Spine raised an eyebrow and took hold of the device. He observed the device, holding it between his first finger and thumb. Reed stepped from around the corner and took interest in the device. He held out his hand in hopes to look at the device more. Spine looked at him and handed it over.

A scream could be heard on the other side of the curtain. Everyone stopped and turned towards the closed curtain. The Spine made his way to the curtain and pulled it to the side, opening it. A young woman in a light blue dress was being carried to the ceiling of the facility by rope. The Spine had no time to react, for by the time he could see his kidnapper they were already in the ceiling and the tile was put back in its proper place. The Spine's shoulder tensed but he let his arm drop to his side. He stood in silence. Steam hissed from his mouth.

"What's the matter, Spine?" Hatchworth asked him. The Spine shook his head. He swore he saw two blue lights through the ceilings darkness. They were close together as if to be eyes. He turned to his bandmates. His eyes looked to the ground but he, again, shook it off.

"Nothing, guys. Let's see if we can figure out what happened and clean up shop." The Spine walked off stage and attempted to place the fire extinguisher away when a man walked up to the band in an uproar. His arms flailed and his voice squeaked. Sweat was down his shirt and his breath was irregular.

"We can fix the fire damage, I swear." Rabbit asked. It was the man whom hired them. He was head of the convention and head of the events. The head honcho and the man who could put them out. He pointed at Rabbit.

"Did you not see it?!" He yelled.

"See who?" Hatchworth replied.

"The robot who took her!" The man replied. Rabbit had to take a second to take it in and piece it together. His eyes widened.

"The one who screamed?" Asked Rabbit.

"Yes! That was my daughter!" Everyone took a second to absorb what just happened. "That robot took my daughter! I am holding you all responsible!"

"And why would that be?" Asked Steve.

"Because he was built like you all. But his eyes glowed blue. Isn't he one of yours?!" The man became furious.

"I surely hope not." The Spine walked back onto the stage with the rest. He looked at everyone with doubt and sadness upon his lips. Rabbit couldn't piece this part quite yet.

"Blue eyes and built like us?" He asked out loud.

"Yes, and somewhat curly hair." He folded his arms in an attempt to calm down, which by the way wasn't working. Rabbit and The Spine looked at each other with concern. Rabbit mouthed the word (with long pronunciation) "noooo" and shook his head. The Spine did nothing but still stared down Rabbit. Rabbit cocked his head back expecting him to agree on his notation. The Spine walked up to the curtain and stood there rocking slightly side to side. Reed and Rabbit caught each others gaze. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Could it?

Hatchworth was missing out. "Well it certainly wasn't one of us or any of ours. Right, Spine?"

Rabbit slammed his hand on his face with a loud clank.

"You don't think…" Reed started but couldn't finish. The Spine turned and looked at Reed straight to the eyes. The Spine nodded. Reed's mouth slightly opened and his eyes widened as he had come to a possible sad conclusion. The Spine spoke.

"I would hate for the possibility to be what I think it is. That there is this slim chance that something has horribly gone wrong. Gentlemen, I think he is back. And not in a good way." Smith looked at Hatchworth and they both shrugged. Smith looked at The Spine and with great concern and hesitation he spoke.

"Who?"

The Spine took in a deep breath and exhaled out as he looked around at everyone and finally looked at Rabbit hoping for some sort of support. Rabbit's eyes were sad, half opened and unsure. The Spine felt heavy with regret and confusion. It made no sense. Something must have gone horribly wrong. With what strength he could muster he spoke two words he hadn't mentioned in quite some time.

"The Jon."


End file.
